campfire cooking Archives - Cruisin with the Colemans

Recipe of the Week – Grilled Sausages with Potatoes, Shallot, and Spinach

Posted on January 14, 2019 by Cruisin Brian

Sometimes after a big day out exploring we just don’t feel like spending a lot of time cooking. That was the case after our day exploring Cape Coral. After visiting the fantastic Cape Coral Farmer’s Market, we did an eight-mile walk around town and found a great little Italian place for lunch that served gluten-free pizza. A visit to Wicked Dolphin Distillery and pool time back at the campground with some newly invented cocktails finished up our day.

By the time we got back to CC we were exhausted and starving. Here’s a quick dinner that you can throw together in no time at all with things that you might even have on hand.

Start out with a variety of potatoes: red, russet, and Yukon gold are my favorites. Dice them up into bite-sized pieces along with a couple of shallots and put into a microwave safe bowl.

Add about a tablespoon of olive oil and a good sprinkle of salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Cook in the microwave for five minutes or so until the potatoes are mostly cooked but still firm.

While the potatoes are cooking, get the grill heated up and add Italian sausages.

When the sausages almost done, add the potatoes and shallot mixture to the grill. BE CAREFUL to not pour the collected oil and water in the bottom of the bowl onto the grill or you will have some major flareup!

Cook the potatoes and sausage until they are nicely charred. Once they’re done, add a few handfuls of spinach and allow it to wilt for a second before removing everything from the grill and dividing between plates. Sprinkle with a little parmesan cheese.

I would highly recommend making sure that you have plenty light on the grill. We had to keep the lights off because of the no-see-ums and I might have burned things a bit! Also, you might notice that I didn’t use spinach… we couldn’t find any at the farmers market that morning so we just went without.

Grilled Sausages with Potatoes, Shallot, and Spinach

1-2 Italian sausages per person
1 lb of assorted potatoes, such as russet, red, and Yukon gold\
2 shallots
1 T olive oil
1/2 t each salt, garlic powder, and pepper
1 cup spinach leaves
1-2 T parmesan cheese

Cut potatoes and shallots into bite-sized pieces and place into a microwave safe bowl. Top with oil and seasonings and stir to mix. Cook for 4-5 minutes in microwave until almost cooked.

Heat grill and add sausages. Cook for 6-8 minutes and turn. Add the potato-shallot mixture and continue to cook until charred to your liking, another 5-10 minutes, making sure that the sausages are cooked through. Add spinach on top and let wilt then remove to plates.

Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Recipe of the Week – Jerk Chicken and Stuffed Mini Bell Pepper Poppers

Posted on September 3, 2018 by Cruisin Brian

Who doesn’t love stuffed pepper poppers? Well, probably anyone who doesn’t like too much heat or is trying to eat healthy since they are breaded and deep-fried. The only guilt that you will feel eating these stuffed peppers is how many of them you will end up eating, but don’t worry they are actually pretty healthy too. The grilled jerk chicken is just a bonus yummy!

I know, it looks like a lot of ingredients, but lots of flavor takes a little work and it’s not really so much stuff. By the way, this recipe works best on the grill but it was pouring rain outside, so everything was done on the stove or in the oven and worked out just fine!

Start out by making the world’s worst smoothy. Combine 2-3 green onions (white and green parts), 1 large shallot, 1 T brown sugar, 2 T fresh lime juice, 2 T olive oil, 1/2 t allspice, 4 cloves of garlic, and a large Serrano chili in a food processor (or in our case, the Ninja cup). Someone will notice that in the first picture, we did not use a serrano. The store didn’t have them so I subbed an Anaheim. Use the chili of your choice based on heat and flavor preferences (our favorite is poblano). Blend it until smooth, and remember, be careful of touching your eyes, nose, mouth, or anything else you love. (On a side note, be really careful cleaning up afterwards, those pepper oils can really mess up the next thing you make in the same bowl.)

Pour the mixture into a bowl or baggie and add 6-8 chicken thighs, legs, drums, breasts, or what ever else you have lying around. We’ve used different cuts but prefer thighs for this recipe. Let it sit while you prep the peppers.

In another bowl, combine 1/4 c finely chopped green onion, another finely diced shallot, 1 T lime juice, 2 T chopped cilantro, 4 oz (half a package) of reduced fat cream cheese, 1/2 C FAGE 2% Greek yogurt and mix well. Scoop it all into a baggie and toss it back in the fridge for a minute.

Take a bag of mini sweet peppers and cut in half and core them. Arrange onto a grill pan. Take the bag of filling and snip the corner of the bag off to create a piping bag. Pipe filling into each pepper. I missed taking a picture of this step, guess I was too hungry!

Heat your grill and start the chicken first. The peppers will take almost as long so get them going right away. I usually place them directly on the grate but if the peppers are small, you may want to put down a piece of foil or use a grill pan so they don’t fall through. Turn the chicken and rearrange the peppers if your grill heat is uneven. You want the chicken crispy on the edges and the bottoms of the peppers blistered but not burnt. The filling will not get very melty if you use reduced fat cheese, so you have to peek underneath.

Serve with some fresh lime wedges and some crusty bread. Let us know how hot you like your jerk in the comments below!
Here’s the original recipe from Cooking Light magazine and here is the version with my modifications.

Jerk Chicken and Stuffed Mini Bell Peppers

Ingredients

Chicken topping

2-3 green onions
1 large chopped shallot
1 T brown sugar
2 T fresh lime juice
2 T olive oil
1/2 t ground allspice
4 garlic cloves
1 large Serrano chile, stemmed and seeded (depending on you heat preference, sub another pepper or leave the seeds in)
8 bone-in chicken thighs, skinned

Pepper filling:

1/2 C (4 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
1/4 C finely chopped green onion
another finely diced shallot
1 T lime juice
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 C light sour cream
1 package mini bell peppers

How to Make It

1. Preheat grill to medium-high heat. After preheating, reduce one side to low.

2. Combine topping ingredients (except chicken) in a mini food processor; process until smooth. Combine mixture and chicken in a medium bowl or large baggie; toss well.

3. Combine remaining green onions, remaining shallots, remaining juice, cheese, cilantro, and sour cream. Cut and core the bell peppers lengthwise; discard seeds. Put cheese mixture in a bag, cut off the tip, and pipe filling into peppers. Place peppers on grill rack coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Grill 7 minutes or until peppers are lightly charred.

4. Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Cover and grill 5 minutes on each side. Move chicken over low heat. Cover and grill 5 minutes on each side or until done.

Recipe of the Week – Taco Rice Salad

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Cruisin Brian

Taco Rice Salad has all the favor of tacos or nachos without the calories of chips or wraps. We enjoy it as a quick dinner or even leftover for lunch. It reminds us a little of the popular bowls at places like Hothead or Chipotle.
Start out mincing some garlic and tossing it a skillet with a pound of ground beef over medium high heat until browned. When it’s almost done add 1 cup of frozen corn kernels to thaw them out. If you are using fresh corn add it to the salad later. In a separate pot, make the yellow rice mix according to instructions. We use Zatarain’s Yellow Rice and Laura’s Lean Beef.

Drain out the fat and add 3 cups of cooked yellow rice, 1 t each ground cumin and chili powder, and 1/4 t each salt and pepper (you may want to omit the salt, some of the rice mixes are pretty high in sodium). Let the whole mixture cool slightly.

On each plate, place about 1 1/2 cups of chopped romaine lettuce, 1/2 cup of chopped tomato, 1/4 cup of drained black beans, and a sprinkling of chopped red onion (also the corn if you’re using fresh).

To make dressing combine 2/3 cup each of Greek yogurt and salsa with 1 t chili powder and 1/2 t ground cumin in a bowl. We like Pace Salsa and Fage 2% Greek Yogurt.

Spoon beef mixture over lettuce and top with Sargento shredded cheddar cheese and dressing. Serves 4-6 hungry people.

Here’s the original recipe from myrecipes.com and here is my modified version:

Taco Rice Salad

Salad:

1 pound ground round
1 garlic clove, minced
3 cups cooked yellow rice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
6 cups torn romaine lettuce (about 10 ounces)
3 cups chopped tomato (about 1 1/4 pounds)
1 cup frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed or 2 ears
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

Dressing:

2/3 cup fat-free sour cream
2/3 cup salsa
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Remaining ingredient:
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese

To prepare salad, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and garlic, and cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Add frozen corn (if using). Drain; return beef mixture to pan. Stir in rice, spices, and salt and pepper. Cool slightly.

Layer lettuce, tomato, fresh corn( if using), onion, and beans on plates.

To prepare dressing, combine Greek yogurt, salsa, 1 teaspoon chili powder, and 1/2 teaspoon cumin, stirring with a whisk.
Top with 3/4 cup rice mixture, 1/3 cup of dressing, and about 1 1/2 tablespoons cheese.

Let us know what you think of this make at home version of your favorite restaurant bowl.